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The Green Man of Ellingham - Chapter Three |
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By tpowell
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24 September 2007 |
Three - Elly
Elly walked through the forest, it was dark, but the light from the full moon above was enough for her to see where she was going. The trees looked eerie in the pale, silver light, but Elly didn’t feel afraid. She felt strangely at peace under the canopy of leaves; it was nice to be on her own and away from all the problems at home.
Elly stopped in front of an enormous oak tree, an owl swooped past on silent wings, hooting mournfully, Elly jumped slightly, but there was no other sign of life in the forest.
As Elly stared at the oak tree, she realised something was carved on the trunk. Moving closer, she saw it was a face made up of thousands of tiny oak leaves that someone had carved into the bark. It was the face of an old man with long, flowing hair and a big, bushy beard. It had been beautifully carved, and in the moonlight appeared almost alive, as if at any moment he would open his mouth and speak.
Elly knew exactly what the face was, her Nan had told her all about these strange
carvings that appeared on trees and in churches and cathedrals.
“You’re a Green Man,” whispered Elly.
A sudden crash behind her made Elly spin round, something was coming, something that was roaring and crashing through the trees.
Elly started to run, branches whipped at her face and she stumbled over twisted tree roots and almost fell. Faster and faster she ran, her hair flying out behind her, but she could hear whatever was behind her was getting ever closer.
Elly felt something grab at her leg, without looking back she shook herself free and ran even faster. The trees seemed to be waving their branches at her, twisting and turning as if trying to free themselves from the ground.
Elly’s heart was thumping and she was struggling to take a breath, she knew she couldn’t keep running like this for much longer, but the thing behind her was relentless, it showed no sign of stopping, if anything it seemed to be moving even faster, crushing everything in its path.
Elly felt it grab her leg again, and this time she couldn’t shake it off. She was lifted into the air, Elly saw two yellow lights the size of footballs glowing in the darkness, she was being pulled towards them, and there was no escape. Elly screamed.
*
Elly sat bolt upright, the scream still echoing in her head, she was sitting on her own bed in her bedroom. It had just been a bad dream; she must have fallen asleep, worn out from all that crying earlier. She was still wearing her school uniform.
Elly looked at the clock on her bedside table, it was two o’clock in the morning; the house was quiet except for the ticking of her clock. She had a drink of water from the glass by her bed and then lay down again, she couldn’t be bothered to undress and within minutes she was asleep again, thankfully this time her sleep was dreamless.
*
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Goodness me
Written by Josie (2548 comments posted) 6th October 2007 | | This chapter's enough to make your hair stand on end. You should have done it in poetry form for National Poetry Day the theme of which was "Dreams". Very well written. |
Written by tpowell (105 comments posted) 6th October 2007 | | Thank you Josie. |
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